Health chiefs believe the project will prove a bargain as it costs just £15,000 per year – but could save millions of pounds by protecting kids against common killers such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes in later life.

Last month the Telegraph revealed that weight-related diseases were now costing Coventry £100 million every year.

And that figure could continue to soar as half of city school kids admit to getting less than the recommended 60 minutes of moderate exercise each day.

Berni Lee, obesity lead at NHS Coventry, said: “This is really for any family where children struggle to get the activity they need.

“That may be because they live in an area where there is a lack of park land, the roads are too busy or they spent too much time in front of a TV or computer.

“We are really keen to work with families to make sure they understand the massive health benefits associated with exercise.”

The Active Kidz programme could help up to 360 children get healthy over the next three years.

It will pay for Coventry Sports and Leisure Centre in Fairfax Street, city centre, to run a series of 10 week courses aimed at getting children to take more exercise and eat more healthily, even on a tight budget.

The 90 minute sessions will run on a Sunday afternoon to make it as easy as possible for families to attend.

Doctors and school nurses will be encouraged to refer children who are not getting enough exercise to the scheme.

Alternatively parents who are worried their child is at risk of becoming obese can sign up themselves.

Organisers stress the project is not something that children or parents should feel embarrassed about.

Instead it will focus on making exercise fun by giving youngsters the chance to try their hand at indoor athletics, fencing, trampolining, indoor golf, curling and other new sports.

Luke Parratt, operations manager at the sports centre, said: “We don’t want to alienate children by just making them run around playing football or basketball for half an hour. They already get to try those sports at school and know if they like them or not.”

Active Kidz will officially launch in July, with the first course beginning in September.

Mr Parratt said he hoped it would help Coventry Sports Centre to reach hundreds of children who had never set foot through its doors before.

Active Kidz is not the only project currently running to help children in Coventry get fit.

Other initiatives include free swimming lessons, creating so-called “active playgrounds” in schools, the Hoops for Health campaign which will run until the 2012 Olympics and the flagship One Body, One Life scheme.

All of these aim to help NHS chiefs diffuse the “ticking time bomb” of killer diseases which they fear will hit the city over the coming decades unless people are persuaded to ditch their unhealthy habits.

One in five children in Coventry are overweight or obese by the time they start school.

That figure shoots up to one third by the time they are 11 years-old and continues to rise into adulthood.

For more details on switching to a healthier lifestyle and activities near you visit www.coventry.gov.uk/coventryactive or www.nhs.uk/change4life